The Pentagon's first ever humane warfighting doctrine is fast gaining currency among the countries battling terrorism. It is known as the Petraeus Doctrine, the eponym being Gen. David Petraeus (56), a leading intellectual who has, through his 328-page doctoral thesis, The American Military and the Lessons of Vietnam, managed to convince the US that winning a war needs ensuring the security and wellbeing of the civilian population. This is the very antithesis of the US policy towards Vietnam, which eventually boomeranged.

Gen. Petraeus, in an interview with The Sunday Times (UK), claims that there has been a sharp decrease in the incidence of violence in Iraq––from 180 attacks to 10 a day. This may be considered as proof that the US strategy based on the Petraeus doctrine is beginning to pay dividends.

At a time the LTTE propagandists, having had egg on their face after the fall of Kilinochchi, where they said the army would meet its Waterloo exactly the way the Germans had in Stalingrad during the WW II, are trying to draw parallels between Kilinochchi and Baghdad, the Petraeus doctrine and its impact on the US policy on counter terrorist operations, warrant a comment.

Iraq and Sri Lanka are poles apart where counter terrorist operations are concerned, as unlike in the occupied Iraq, in this country it is the national military that is conducting a military campaign to protect territorial integrity, establish the rule of law and liberate civilians from the clutches of a terrorist outfit banned in many other countries. Therefore the question of occupation simply does not arise in Sri Lanka.

Conclusions that Petraeus has drawn from the Vietnam war are diametrically opposed to those of Gen. Powell and others who believe the US military 'should become a machine that delivers a massive, technologically awe-inspiring military punch at high speed' without getting involved in 'messy stuff' such as 'nation-building.' Petraeus says the lesson from Vietnam is not that the US should avoid counterinsurgency but 'become much better at it'. His advice to his troops in Iraq is to 'live among the people' and 'interact with them face to face not separated by ballistic glass'.

A careful look at the Petraeus doctrine will reveal that Sri Lanka adopted that strategy of battling terror very much earlier, having blundered like Powell et al at the initial stages. President J. R. Jayewardene and his Sandhurst trained military chums like 'Bull' Weeratunga, who happened to deal with the nascent separatist terrorism, acted like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Their strategy was manifestly devoid of humanity and political know-how. They totally misread the situation and were cocky that they would be able to wipe out terrorism within months, if not weeks. A similar mindset was reflected in President D. B. Wijetunga's approach to the problem, which further alienated the Tamil minority. President Ranasinghe Premadasa relied on his Keselwatte cunning in a bid to outfox the wily Tigers but in vain. President Kumaratunga realised the need for reaching out to civilians but she failed to strike a balance between politics and war in tackling terrorism and the result was disastrous as could be seen from a string of military debacles which characterised her stewardship. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his UNF government chose shameless capitulation as their policy in dealing with terrorism, maybe in good faith but much to the detriment of democracy and national security.

However, Sri Lanka, which learnt its bitter lessons over the years under different political dispensations, crafted and refined its strategy along the lines spelt out in the Petraeus doctrine much earlier than the US. In Jaffna and in several other parts of the peninsula, the army has been busy with 'messy stuff' such as civil administration and welfare activities since 1995. It has done so in the Eastern Province as well as in several parts of the North for a long time, living as it does among the people.

It is being argued that the factors that led to distrust, discontentment and consternation of the people, which the LTTE exploited for self aggrandisement, if not self-deification should be removed politically for the hearts and minds of Tamils to be won. This argument is tenable, no doubt. But, it is equally true that unless the military had enjoyed popular support in the North and the East, none of the victories it has scored in the past few years would have been possible. What is happening in Jaffna is a case in point. Thousands of people now come out to take part in anti-LTTE rallies. Would this be possible if their allegiance was still to the LTTE as the proponents of 'Stalingrad-Baghdad' theory claim?

Petraeus points out that the 'messy stuff' is not as inspiring as 'rough stuff' for a soldier. Naturally! He says, "The company commanders I talk to will often say that , in the last six months or so, we're dealing with the challenge that soldiers can't get as fired up about, say, the restoration of fish farms or poultry industries or local market revival as they can about true combat operations. So, they need to be reminded what happens when you have a real operation; there may be an adrenaline moment ... but it's often the moment after which some of their buddies and they might never be the same. And it is paradoxical."

This is exactly what the Sri Lankan military has been doing right throughout. It has been more engaged in 'messy stuff' like feeding civilians than combat operations. If the LTTE had not uprooted the Vanni civilians in a bid to hand over 'ghost towns' to the army, the troops would have had their work cut out looking after people and their march would have been greatly impeded. But, Prabhakaran, in his wisdom, chose earth bunds and motes for that purpose out of his desperation for a human shield.

Petraeus says Sherman––Gen. William Sherman who, having led Lincoln's brutal war against secessionist forces to a successful end, famously said, "War is hell!"––had it right about war. One could not agree with Petraeus more. But, Sherman made that pronouncement only after protecting America's territorial integrity through a bloody military campaign notorious for indiscriminate killing and destruction. In achieving his single minded goal, Gen. Sherman ruthlessly carried out the scorched earth policy and bragged at the height of his campaign that even if a crow were to fly from the East coast to the West coast it had to carry provisions as it would find nothing on the way to eat! Nor does Petraeus have any qualms fighting America's wars abroad. Of the Americans engaged in Iraqi war, he says, "They should be called the new greatest generation."